KTMphil
Senior member
Poy Sang Long festival in Chiang Mai 5th April, 2011
Looks like there's no need to leave Chiang Mai to see one of the best Poy Sang Long festivals (young monk festival)! This came right passed our front door this morning.
A Poy Sang Long festival came northbound up Moon Muang Road in Chiang Mai today.
The young boys being carried
Or on horse back
From Wikipedia:
The Poy Sang Long (Shan: "Festival [of the] Crystal Sons") is a rite of passage ceremony among the Shan peoples, in Myanmar (also known as Burma) and in neighbouring Northern Thailand, undergone by boys at some point between seven and fourteen years of age. It consists of taking novice monastic vows and participating in monastery life for a period of time that can vary from a week to many months or more. Usually, a large group of boys are ordained as novice monks at the same time.
It can also be observed in neighboring Thailand, where Shan immigrants have brought over the traditions from Myanmar. The ceremony goes on for three days, as the boys (dressed up like princes in imitation of the Lord Buddha, who was himself a prince before setting out on the religious path) spend the entire time being carried around on the shoulders of their older male relatives. On the third day, they are ordained, and enter the monastery for a period of at least one week, and perhaps many years.
It was quite a big festival causing major traffic problems on the moat road
The colors are fantastic. Would not have been my choice of hat.
Great costumes
The strange animal confused my daughter a little
Looks like there's no need to leave Chiang Mai to see one of the best Poy Sang Long festivals (young monk festival)! This came right passed our front door this morning.
A Poy Sang Long festival came northbound up Moon Muang Road in Chiang Mai today.
The young boys being carried
Or on horse back
From Wikipedia:
The Poy Sang Long (Shan: "Festival [of the] Crystal Sons") is a rite of passage ceremony among the Shan peoples, in Myanmar (also known as Burma) and in neighbouring Northern Thailand, undergone by boys at some point between seven and fourteen years of age. It consists of taking novice monastic vows and participating in monastery life for a period of time that can vary from a week to many months or more. Usually, a large group of boys are ordained as novice monks at the same time.
It can also be observed in neighboring Thailand, where Shan immigrants have brought over the traditions from Myanmar. The ceremony goes on for three days, as the boys (dressed up like princes in imitation of the Lord Buddha, who was himself a prince before setting out on the religious path) spend the entire time being carried around on the shoulders of their older male relatives. On the third day, they are ordained, and enter the monastery for a period of at least one week, and perhaps many years.
It was quite a big festival causing major traffic problems on the moat road
The colors are fantastic. Would not have been my choice of hat.
Great costumes
The strange animal confused my daughter a little
